having the paranoid admin only works if the company supports what he suggests, and doesn't counter everything with "We'll just have to accept the risk"

As for an actual skill set:1) Understanding Best Practices2) Being able to explain why they're best practices3) being able to explain the risk to the company, in ways other than "I got shell on your box"

Programming skills are a plus, because they can review code for secure practices.

Network defense skills. One of the things I am still trying to get time to obtain. Outside of maybe a netgear or McAfee point and click, I've never written a firewall rule, Never black holed traffic from a malicious domain, never setup a reverse proxy. Never setup or monitored a SNORT sensor.

I would say that companies need to start hiring not just the seasoned veterans, but the people with the desire to learn.

SephStorm wrote:I would say that companies need to start hiring not just the seasoned veterans, but the people with the desire to learn.

hear, hear. If you don't want to learn then you shouldn't be in this job

This is a trait that's more difficult to come by than you may realize. Everyone here obviously loves this stuff, but in the real world, people try to get into security because they perceive it as glamorous, think it pays well, and/or are of the opinion that there is a high amount of job security. I'm not going to dispute any of those items (granted they can vary greatly based on the specific job), but that opens up the floodgates for many people that are not genuinely passionate about what they do.

To answer the OP, probably the GCIH and GCIA if I had to only pick a couple. If you're on a budget, get started with Counterhack: Reloaded, the Snort book from Syngress, and the Wireshark book.

Thoroughly understand systems and networking. Familiarize yourself with attacks and learn where to look for and how to identify irregularities that may be indicative of malicious activity.

Last edited by dynamik on Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Having the desire to learn doesn't protect an infrastructure from attacks. You have to go in with a certain level of understanding, otherwise you may do just as much harm inside as would an attacker. Develop your skill then look to contribute. Hope I didn't discourage anyone.

Having the desire to learn doesn't protect an infrastructure from attacks. You have to go in with a certain level of understanding, otherwise you may do just as much harm inside as would an attacker. Develop your skill then look to contribute. Hope I didn't discourage anyone.

True enough, but companies dont hire based on understanding, they hire based on documentable experience, which you cant get without a job.

A good hackers solve problems and build things, and they believe in freedom and voluntary mutual help. To be accepted as a hacker, you have to behave as though you have this kind of attitude yourself. And to behave as though you have the attitude, you have to really believe the attitude.But if you think of cultivating hacker attitudes as just a way to gain acceptance in the culture, you'll miss the point. Becoming the kind of person who believes these things is important for you for helping you learn and keeping you motivated. As with all creative arts, the most effective way to become a master is to imitate the mind-set of masters not just intellectually but emotionally as well.